New oil ‘province’ found off Norway

Extension of Norway’s lucrative oil age was further assured on Monday when state oil company Statoil announced another major oil discovery in the Barents Sea. Now the biggest question seems whether Statoil, its partners and Norwegian industry have the capacity to develop yet another oil and gas project, and other international players are expected to [...]

Environmental speed limit collided with the law

Transportation officials tried to reduce air pollution levels in Oslo by lowering speed limits on main highways into the capital to just 60 kilometers per hour (about 40mph). A court ruling this week, however, deemed the speed limits unenforceable under current law. Motorists routinely defied the lower speed limits, which have been imposed in Oslo [...]

Labour backs new Svalbard coal mine

Norway’s Labour Party was attracting more criticism from environmental organizations on Tuesday, after its parliamentary group decided to support the opening of a new coal mine on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The environmentalists call it another example of hypocrisy and double standards. The move, reports newspaper VG, has spurred dissent within Labour and comes [...]

South Pole parties mixed pride, PR

Norwegian officials made the most of the 100th anniversary of Roald Amundsen’s arrival at the South Pole on Wednesday, with the king, the crown prince and the prime minister strategically placed to hail December 14, 1911 as “a proud day for Norway.” The celebrations reflected pride and public relations (PR), as Norwegian interest in both [...]

More climate cuts sought at home

Two of the three parties making up Norway’s government coalition are demanding that more emissions cuts be made at home, after the Kyoto agreement on cuts was extended at the UN climate conference in Durban. They’re not satisfied with Norway’s tendency to rather offer funds for cuts elsewhere in the world. As a major oil [...]

Expeditions late for South Pole party

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was flown into the South Pole this week and now some of the leaders of new polar expeditions have resorted to air transport as well. They failed to get there on skis fast enough and didn’t want to miss celebrations of Norwegian hero Roald Amundsen’s historic arrival in 1911. “This wasn’t [...]

Safari tour lands MPs on defensive

Four Norwegian Members of Parliament were fending off criticism on Friday after they ditched a session of the UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa and went off on a safari tour instead, while two others went on a tour of the city. Their sightseeing left just one colleague to follow climate negotiations. Newspaper Dagens [...]

Jens, stay home!

COMMENTARY – VIEWS ON THE NEWS: Has anyone else noticed the irony of how people worried about the climate – including Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg – spend vast amounts of time, energy and taxpayers’ money flying all over the globe, burning up jet fuel and generating untold tons of carbon emissions? On another topic: [...]

Another government quarrel erupts

Members of Norway’s left-center government coalition are quarreling again, with cabinet minister Kristin Halvorsen now complaining about her government colleague, Oil & Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe, on Facebook. Differences over environmental policies are at the root of the conflict, and opposition leaders want Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to sort things out. Environmentalists see Stoltenberg, [...]

More oil sands’ static for Statoil

Another demonstration against oil company Statoil was held outside the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo on Monday, with a broad alliance calling Statoil’s oil sands project in Canada a “shame” for Norway and Statoil itself. Meanwhile, in Turkmenistan, Statoil reportedly held a small demonstration of its own. Politicians from the Christian Democrats, the Liberal Party (Venstre) [...]

Norway among top climate offenders

As world leaders gather once again to tackle climate issues, this time in South Africa, comes confirmation that Norway’s oil and gas industry makes it among the world’s major polluters. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has maintained a high climate-friendly profile, but now he’s “deeply worried” that any new emission-cutting agreement will be struck. The CO2 [...]

Experts predict a mild winter ahead

Climate researchers and state meteorologists are forecasting a much milder winter than the past two in Norway, while ski resort operators have been forced to postpone the opening of the ski season once again because of lack of snow. Meanwhile, political efforts to reverse climate change seem to have melted along with the ice. Only [...]

Active exploration doesn’t deter Moe

New figures from Norway’s state oil directorate indicate that 2011 is shaping up as a top year for both oil exploration and discovery. That’s not stopping the country’s oil minister from promoting other controversial sources of oil and gas. Oil & Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe landed in more trouble last week when he told [...]

Norway eyes oil era for Greenland

The Arctic nation of Greenland seems on the verge of an industrial revolution that’s involving controversial oil exploration and several Norwegian players. At stake are the conflicting fortunes of fishermen, and huge environmental risk. A steady stream of Norwegian politicians and businessmen have been making their way to Greenland for months. State secretary Erik Lahnstein [...]

Norway backsliding on climate issues

Environmentalists were calling Norwegian Oil & Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe “a public relations agent” for Statoil on Friday, while industrial firm Aker reportedly may shut down its Aker Clean Carbon unit. Concerns are rising that Norway’s government and industry are backsliding on lofty promises to hinder climate change by cutting carbon emissions. Moe has [...]

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